A trio of terrorists attempts to blow up a high-security lab at the World Health Organization in Geneva, Switzerland. There’s a brief shootout with the building’s security, during which a container housing a deadly experimental virus is struck. One of the terrorists (played by Lou Castel) manages to escape and make his way to a nearby station, where he sneaks onto a train headed for Stockholm.
Also on board this train are doctor Jonathan Chamberlain (Richard Harris); Chamberlain’s ex-wife Jennifer (Sophia Loren); socialite Nicole Dressler (Ava Gardner) and her boy-toy Robby (Martin Sheen); a federal agent posing as a Reverend (O.J. Simpson); a nanny (Alida Valli) and her young charge; Concentration camp survivor Herman (Lee Strasberg); a conductor named Max (Lionel Stadler), and nearly a thousand other passengers. What none of them knows is that the stowaway terrorist has been infected with a virus similar to the pneumonic plague, and the longer he is permitted to roam free, the more danger there is of an outbreak.
To prevent the virus from spreading any further, Colonel Stephen Mackenzie (Burt Lancaster) of U.S. Military Intelligence, working inside WHO headquarters with doctor Elena Stradner (Ingrid Thulin), re-routes the train to Poland, where it must pass over a dilapidated bridge known as the Cassandra Crossing before reaching its final destination.
The moment the opening titles end, The Cassandra Crossing is off and running, with a well-staged showdown between the terrorists (who have discovered that the U.S. Army is conducting germ warfare experiments in a neutral country) and the WHO security forces. The tension continues to mount when the surviving terrorist, clearly infected with the virus, boards the train, where, after hiding out in the baggage car (and stealing water from the cage of a Basset Hound), he takes a stroll, infecting a number of other passengers, including young singer Susan (Ann Turkel).
Once they’ve tracked the terrorist’s whereabouts, Mackenzie contacts Dr. Chamberlain by radio and informs him of the potential danger, essentially putting the doctor in charge of the situation. Scenes in which the sick are identified and quarantined (surprisingly, Dr. Chamberlain takes hardly any precautions when dealing with the infected) are followed by more harrowing sequences, when army personnel, wearing Hazmat suits and brandishing automatic weapons, board the train and force everyone to turn over their personal belongings. It’s one of several moments in which The Cassandra Crossing draws a not-too-subtle parallel between U.S. forces and WWII-era Nazis. Even the train’s re-routed destination is a former Concentration Camp in Janov, Poland, the very camp where Lee Strasberg’s Herman lost his wife and children during the war.
Along with the tension and intrigue, The Cassandra Crossing offers up plenty of drama as well, from Chamberlain and Jennifer bickering early on to the revelation that Robby has been using Nicole as a front (and an unwitting one at that) to smuggle drugs across Europe. And if all this isn’t disturbing enough, there’s the added worry of a bridge that might collapse the minute the train tries to pass over it.
The story and situations are, at times, over-the-top, as are some of the performances, and there are moments that will have you rolling your eyes in disbelief. In one of the movie’s more ridiculous scenes, a helicopter flies overhead and drops a basket by rope, fully expecting Chamberlain and Jennifer (who are leaning out of a speeding train) to grab hold of it and place the body of the infected terrorist inside!
But the film moves along at a brisk pace, and there are a handful of nerve-racking sequences mixed in as well. So while The Cassandra Crossing may not rank among the elite of ‘70s disaster films, it’s far from the worst.
Rating: 6 out of 10
Unfortunately, where Meteor came up short is in the special effects department. In fact, “came up short” is putting it mildly: the effects in this movie suck!
A comet collides with the asteroid belt between Mars and Jupiter, causing a 5-mile-wide rock to break orbit and hurtle towards earth. Hoping to prevent an impact, which would likely extinguish all life on the planet, former NASA scientist Paul Bradley (Sean Connery) and the administrator’s current chief Harry Sherwood (Karl Malden) try to convince the U.S. President (Henry Fonda) and military leaders such as General Aldon (Martin Landau) to fire the nuclear missiles from the orbiting Hercules satellite directly at the meteor.
Realizing that even this firepower won’t be enough to destroy it, Bradley and Sherwood coerce the President into contacting Russia in the hopes they, too, will fire their missiles from a similar satellite and end the threat. To this end, Soviet scientist Dr. Dubov (Brian Keith) and his interpreter Tatiana (Natalie Wood) fly to New York, where they will work closely with their American counterparts to obliterate the meteor. They all watch in horror as smaller, “splinter” asteroids hit earth, resulting in the total destruction of some key cities around the globe, but work diligently nonetheless to save the planet from total annihilation.
There are a few things I liked about Meteor, starting with its cast. Connery, Malden, Wood, and Keith (not speaking a word of English… all of his dialogue is in Russian) manage to convince us that the threat is real, while Fonda, Landau, and Trevor Howard (as Sir Michael Hughes, who is tracking the path of the meteor in England) are solid in support. There are also moments throughout the film, especially in the last half hour, when the tension reaches a fever pitch, and the filmmakers did get a bit creative with the “splinter” asteroids, which cause everything from avalanches to tidal waves.
Most (or all) of these positives are undermined, however, by the film’s shoddy effects, from the shots in space of the approaching meteor and the launching of the missiles (thanks to Star Wars, which was released only two years earlier, audiences undoubtedly expected better outer space sequences than this film delivered) to the devastation caused by the smaller asteroids (neither the above-mentioned avalanche nor the tidal wave look the least bit convincing).
Meteor isn’t a total waste of time, but not even its amazing cast is enough to rescue this film from its technological mediocrity.
Rating: 5.5 out of 10
Directed By: George Seaton
Starring: Burt Lancaster, Dean Martin, George Kennedy
Tagline: "The #1 novel of the year - now a motion picture!"
Trivia: Dean Martin received 10% of the film's gross, which added an additional $7,000,000 to his salary
Released in 1970, Airport set the stage for that decade’s other big-budget disaster films, and thanks to its star-studded cast and a plethora of thrills, the movie even managed to garner a whopping 10 Academy Award nominations, including one for Best Picture (which it lost to Patton).
With a fierce snowstorm raging outside, Mel Bakersfeld (Burt Lancaster), the top dog at Chicago’s Lincoln International Airport, has been working non-stop to ensure things run as smoothly as possible.
But it hasn’t been easy. For one, a Trans Global Airlines Boeing 707 turned too quickly on runway 29 and is now stuck in the snow, forcing all traffic to be diverted to runway 22. In addition, Bakerfeld’s troublesome brother-in-law, pilot Vernon Demerest (Dean Martin), has been openly critical of how the airport is being run during this emergency, and has sent a report to the Board of Operations detailing his concerns.
Then, on top of everything else, there’s a good chance that D.O. Guerrero (Van Helfin), a passenger on a Trans Global flight to Rome (piloted by Demerest), is carrying a bomb in his briefcase, which he intends to detonate once the aircraft is over the ocean.
With hundreds of lives at stake, Bakersfeld, Demerest and their team must work quickly to turn the plane around and, if possible, subdue Guerrero before he flips the switch. But can they do so without raising the suspicions of the already-nervous would-be bomber?
The first half of Airport is all about building its characters. Lancaster’s Mel Bakersfeld essentially runs the airport, and his long hours have led to some friction between him and his estranged wife Cindy (played by Dana Wynter). During the storm, Bakersfeld has spent a great deal of time in the company of co-worker Tanya Livingston (Jean Seberg), and has discovered that he’s developed feelings for her.
As for Bakersfeld's brother-in-law, Vern Demerest, he's having an affair of his own with pretty young stewardess Gwen (Jacqueline Bisset), who shocks the hell out of the philandering pilot with a little announcement right before their flight to Rome takes off.
We even get to know the wannabe saboteur, Guerrero, an unemployed construction worker with money troubles who hopes a large insurance policy will finally give his long-suffering wife Inez (Maureen Stapleton) the kind of life she deserves. The main actors, as well as the supporting cast (especially Barry Nelson as Vern's co-pilot, who plays an important part in the films second half), do a fine job fleshing out the movie’s many characters.
In addition to its personal dilemmas, Airport reveals, quite convincingly, how difficult it must be to keep an airport operational during a snowstorm. Along with the plane blocking runway 29, which top technician Joe Petroni (George Kennedy) is trying to move out of the way, Tanya must deal with a stowaway on a recent Trans Global flight from L.A., an elderly woman named Ada Quonsett (Helen Hayes, who won an Oscar for her performance). If Ms. Quonsett is to be believed, she’s been sneaking onto flights for years to visit her daughter in New York.
Then there’s the problem with runway 22, which is situated next to a small neighborhood. The residents of this community are none too happy that planes are landing so close to their homes, and have threatened to file a $10 million dollar lawsuit if the runway isn’t shut down by midnight. As with the characters, these various subplots are engaging enough to keep us watching Airport until the main story gets underway.
Which happens soon after the flight to Rome takes off; Mel, Tanya and a few others figure out what Guerrero is up to, and alert Capt. Demerest and his crew, who now have to get the upper hand on the would-be bomber without causing a panic among the other passengers. It’s a tension-riddled second half, and thanks to all that went before it, we’re pulling for everyone to make it out of this predicament alive.
By focusing as much as it does on its story’s dramatic elements, Airport isn’t as action-packed as the disaster films that followed in its wake (The Poseidon Adventure, The Towering Inferno, Earthquake). But this 1970 movie is still plenty entertaining, and there’s no denying it got the genre off on the right foot.
Directed By: Mark Robson
Starring: Charlton Heston, Ava Gardner, George Kennedy
Tag line: "When the big one finally hits L.A"
Trivia: At the time, this set the record for the biggest number of stunt people employed on one picture, with a total of 141
For years, I considered 1974’s Earthquake a “second-tier” ‘70s disaster flick, a step below the “big three”, aka Airport (1970), The Poseidon Adventure (1972), and The Towering Inferno (1974).
Watching it again, though, I see that I was wrong. Earthquake is every bit as entertaining as the decade’s other disaster flicks, and offers more mayhem and destruction than its predecessors combined.
It is a seemingly normal day in Los Angeles. Former football player turned architect Stewart Graff (Charlton Heston) argues with his domineering wife, Remy (Ava Gardner), then heads to the home of young widow Denise Marshall (Geneviève Bujold) to drop off an autographed football for her son Corry (Tiger Williams). Stewart feels responsible for Denise, seeing as he was the one who sent her late husband on the job that cost him his life.
What’s more, Stewart has developed feelings for Denise. Still, despite Remy’s assertions he has been having an affair, he has yet to act on those desires. Further complicating matters is the fact that Stewart works for Remy’s father, Sam Royce (Lorne Green), who goes out of his way to keep both his son-in-law (now a top man in his field) and his overbearing daughter happy.
Elsewhere in the city, gung-ho policeman Lou Slade (George Kennedy) is pissing off his superiors. Stuntman Miles Quade (Richard Roundtree) is working closely with his associate Sal (Gabriel Dell) to prepare his latest death-defying feat, while Sal’s sister Rosa (Victoria Principle) takes in a movie. Grocery store manager (and National Guard volunteer) Jody Joad (Marjoe Gortner) is dealing with difficult customers. And a tremor shakes the entire town, giving folks a good scare.
This is nothing new; living in Southern California, the locals have grown accustomed to the ground moving from time to time. But this recent tremor was different from most. For one, it cracked the Los Angeles Dam, where a worker was killed when an elevator shaft inexplicably filled with water. As a team of engineers tries to pinpoint the crack, the gang at the California Seismological Institute is looking into reports that a much larger quake is on its way, one powerful enough to destroy the entire city.
Per the research of recent college grad Walter Russell (Kip Niven), which is based on a formula his mentor devised, another tremor will hit around mid-morning, and if it does, a major earthquake is sure to follow soon after.
The Institute’s supervisor Dr. Willis Stockle (Barry Sullivan) is skeptical at first, but has a change of heart when the second tremor strikes, just as Russell predicted. They warn the mayor (John Randolph), who calls out the National Guard. But when the big quake does strike, it proves worse than anyone could have imagined.
Their city in ruins, the main characters do what they can to survive, but how many will make it out alive?
Like all good disaster films, Earthquake boasts a star-studded cast (and keep an eye out for Walter Matthau, who has a cameo as a drunken bar patron). But it’s the level of destruction, including the scope of the carnage, that makes this movie stand apart from the rest.
Whereas previous disaster films centered on a singular structure (Airport=plane; Poseidon Adventure=ship; Towering Inferno=skyscraper), Earthquake takes out an entire city! Buildings collapse, and a highway overpass buckles, causing vehicles (including a truck hauling cattle) to go over the side, crashing to the ground below. Then there’s the dam, which was having problems well before the big quake. Should the dam fail, most of L.A. will be underwater within minutes.
Those buildings left standing after the quake have their dangers as well; the office where Stewart and Sam work has to be evacuated when a lethal gas seeps into the air ducts. Each and every character is put in harm’s way at one point or another, and the threat of more tremors continues to keep everyone on their toes.
Earthquake occasionally delves into serious topics, like accountability (early on, Stewart complains that high-rises in Los Angeles aren’t built to withstand a large quake) and how people react in a crisis (Lou helps the injured, while Jody, an officer in the National Guard, uses his temporary power to get revenge on a few guys who insulted him). For the most part, though, Earthquake is good, solid fun, providing its share of chills and thrills as it convincingly levels a major city.
Directed By: Corey Allen
Starring: Rock Hudson, Mia Farrow, Robert Forster
Tag line: "A winter wonderland becomes a nightmare of destruction!"
Trivia: This was one of New World Pictures' most expensive productions - and a box office failure
Avalanche was Roger Corman’s attempt to cash in on the ‘70s disaster craze, and while he definitely deserves an “A” for effort, I can’t, in good conscience, give the film itself a passing grade.
Entrepreneur David Shelby (Rick Hudson) is preparing to celebrate the grand opening of his lavish ski resort, and has invited star athletes to compete in a series of games he’s hoping will kick things off in perfect fashion.
Alas, not everyone is happy the resort is soon opening its doors. Environmentalists have attacked Shelby for destroying the area’s natural landscape; and wildlife photographer Nick Thorne (Robert Forster), pointing out the snow gathering on a nearby mountain, warns of the possibility of a catastrophic avalanche.
To top it all off, the government is investigating Shelby’s business practices, and he has ordered his lawyer (X Brands) to fly in ASAP and review the case against him.
These issues aside, Shelby is perparing for a fun-filled weekend, as well as the chance to spend some time with ex-wife Caroline (Mia Farrow), who he still loves.
Once the games begin, tragedy strikes: the plane carrying Shelby’s lawyer crashes high atop the mountain, causing an avalanche. With both the games and the lodge directly in its path, this avalanche barrels downward, burying everyone and everything under several feet of snow.
Like The Towering Inferno and The Poseidon Adventure, Avalanche boasts a plethora of characters, all living out their own little dramas (infidelities, loneliness, fierce competitions, etc) in the days before the disaster. Where it differed from the others, however, is that, aside from Farrow, Hudson, and Forster, Avalanche doesn’t feature an all-star cast, which made it difficult to keep track of everyone (The Towering Inferno followed a large number of people as well, but with the likes of Paul Newman, Steve McQueen, William Holden, Faye Dunaway, Fred Astaire, O.J. Simpson, and other well-known stars in the cast, it was easy to remember who played what character). And because I had a hard time figuring out who’s who, I didn’t particularly care about the characters or their troubles (a love triangle between a married woman, a champion skier and a world-class figure skater went nowhere).
As for the avalanche itself, the special effects were noticeably shoddy (the superimposed snow rolling down the hill wasn’t convincing at all), which definitely took the edge off things.
Avalanche isn’t a total waste of time. The scenes set immediately after the disaster have some weight to them (the rescue efforts were well-handled), and Rock Hudson, though completely over-the-top, was fun to watch. But on the whole, Avalanche was a disappointment.
Directed By: Bruce Geller
Starring: Ben Johnson, Michael Parks, Paul Hecht
Trivia: The bees in this movie were real, and still had their stingers. They were kept under control with the help of both smoke and highly attractive synthetic bee pheromones
Man, this movie scared the shit out of me when I was a kid!
I must have been 6 or 7 when I first saw it on TV, and I was convinced those bees were on their way north, and were determined to track me down. Watching The Savage Bees proved to be a fairly traumatic experience, and it definitely contributed to a fear of bees that plagued me for at least a decade.
Arriving in the U.S. by way of a Brazilian freighter, a swarm of African killer bees descends on the New Orleans area just in time to disrupt Mardi Gras. The first sign of trouble occurs 20 miles away, when Sheriff Donald McKew (Ben Johnson) finds his beloved dog dead. Assuming it was poisoned, he drives the carcass into New Orleans to have some tests run.
An autopsy performed by Assistant Medical Director Jeff DuRand (Michael Parks) determines the dog was killed not by poison, but by bees (dozens are found in the poor thing’s stomach). With the help of Entomology expert Jeannie Devereaux (Gretchen Corbett), Jeff learns that the bees originated in South Africa, and are a particularly violent species of insect.
As Sheriff McKew is dealing with more attacks in his small town, Jeff and Jeannie are trying to convince the authorities in New Orleans that the annual Mardi Gras parade needs to be cancelled.
Through it all, the bees continue to attack, leaving a number of dead in their wake.
Considering it had been about 38 years since I last saw The Savage Bees, I was surprised how much of it I remembered. In one scene, a young girl is walking through a field, only to be attacked by a swarm of bees (it’s a well-shot sequence, too, with director Bruce Geller giving us a “bees-eye” view of the action, starting high above the field and descending quickly towards the unsuspecting victim). A later attack, involving a young couple in costume on their way to Mardi Gras, also stuck with me (the guy was dressed as a pirate, and was swinging his sword wildly to prevent the bees from stinging him. Even when I was a kid, I knew this wasn’t the best way to stop a swarm), and I never forgot the final sequence, which is set inside the Louisiana Superdome.
I’m no longer afraid of bees, but I have to admit, watching these scenes again made me a little uneasy.
As made-for-TV movies go, The Savage Bees has its strengths, but it has its weaknesses as well. Chief among them is the wooden performance of Ben Johnson, a usually dependable actor who, only a few short years before, won an Academy Award for his turn in Peter Bogdanovich’s The Last Picture Show. Having seen him in that movie, as well as Dillinger, The Town That Dreaded Sundown, and, of course, Sam Peckinpah’s The Wild Bunch, I knew Johnson favored a performance style that was more laid-back (you could never accuse him of over-acting). But as the sheriff caught in the middle of a dangerous situation, he is positively lifeless.
In the end, though, it doesn’t detract from the film’s effectiveness. With a fair number of vicious bee attacks, shown in surprisingly graphic detail, The Savage Bees may just burn itself into your brain the way it did mine.
Directed By: John Guillermin
Starring: Steve McQueen, Paul Newman, William Holden
Tag line: "The world's tallest building is on fire. You are there on the 135th floor... no way down... no way out"
Trivia: Faye Dunaway was often late to the set or didn't appear at all, which caused some of the other actors to become quite upset. William Holden reportedly shoved her against the wall one day and threatened her. For the next month, she had a perfect attendance record
As much as I love The Poseidon Adventure, 1974’s The Towering Inferno is my favorite of the ‘70s disaster films. With a plethora of stars fighting for their lives inside a burning skyscraper, The Towering Inferno packs action, excitement, and a whole lot of drama into 165 minutes.
It is opening night for San Francisco’s Glass Tower, now the world’s tallest building, and among those on-hand to celebrate this grand occasion is its designer, architect Doug Roberts (Paul Newman). After doing a bit of pre-party research, Roberts discovers that Roger Simmons (Richard Chamberlain), the electrical engineer and son-in-law of the building’s owner, James Duncan (William Holden), cut some corners when installing the Tower’s electrical system. By saving a little money, Roberts contends that Simmons has put the entire structure in harm's way.
Ignoring Roberts’ warnings, Duncan decides to go ahead with the dedication ceremony, set to take place on the building's 135th floor. But when a small fire that breaks out on a lower level rapidly spreads, it threatens not only the Tower, but the lives of everyone inside.
With the help of Chief Michael O’Halloran (Steve McQueen) of the San Francisco Fire Department, Roberts works diligently to save as many people as possible, a task that grows increasingly more difficult as the fire intensifies.
Part of what makes The Towering Inferno the “granddaddy of disaster films” is its phenomenal cast. Along with Newman and McQueen, both of whom were huge box-office draws at the time, there’s William Holden as the owner who soon sees the error of his ways, and Faye Dunaway as Susan, the girlfriend of Paul Newman’s character, who is one of the many trapped inside the building.
Other employees of the Glass Tower include Dan Bigelow (Robert Wagner), the public relations chief and one of the first to be cornered by the fire (his attempt to escape the blaze is perhaps the film’s most chilling moment), and Security Officer Harry Jernigan (O.J. Simpson), who works with Roberts to get people to safety (Jernigan even rescues a young Mike Lookinland, who played Bobby Brady in the T.V. series The Brady Bunch).
Among the many guests on-hand to celebrate the opening are U.S. Senator Parker (Robert Vaughn) as well as Harlee Claiborne (Fred Astaire), a con man trying to bilk lonely widow Lisolette Mueller (Jennifer Jones) out of her late husband's fortune. Even singer Maureen McGovern, whose tune “The Morning After” became a hit when it was featured in The Poseidon Adventure, turns up as herself, entertaining guests during the ill-fated party on the 135th floor.
Featuring an amazing cast, a number of tense sequences, and a finale that is out of this world, The Towering Inferno set the bar high for every disaster film to follow. And in my opinion, none have come close to matching it.
Directed By: Earl Bellamy
Starring: Ernest Borgnine, Vera Miles, Patty Duke
Tag line: "Another burning sensation from the producer of The Towering Inferno"
Trivia: This made-for-television movie was released theatrically overseas
The '70s was the decade of the disaster movie, not only on the big screen (Airport, The Poseidon Adventure, The Towering Inferno) but the small one as well. As a kid, I watched a number of made-for-television disaster flicks (The Savage Bees, Smash-Up on Interstate 5), including 1977's Fire!, about an out-of-control blaze and the Oregon community it practically destroys.
While a group of convicts is working in a forest, one intentionally starts a small fire, in the hopes he can slip away during the ensuing chaos. The remaining inmates work together to extinguish the fire, and believe they have put it out. Pleased with themselves, they head back to the prison.
Unfortunately, they didn't finish the job, and before long, a blaze is burning out of control, threatening the nearby town of Silverton and all who live there.
With the help of a brave few, including Sam Brisbane (Ernest Borgnine), owner of the lumber yard; and Drs. Alex (Alex Cord) and Peggy Wilson (Patty Duke), the firefighters do all they can to contain the fire and rescue those trapped within the ever-growing wall of flames.
There aren’t many living in Silverton, and in typical disaster-movie fashion, we’re introduced to just about all of them in the opening scenes of Fire!. Sam Brisbane has been trying for years to hook up with widow Martha Wagner (Vera Miles), who has been unwilling to commit. Alex and Peggy Wilson, both of whom work in the medical field, are getting a divorce because they can’t agree where to settle down (he wants to do research in New York, and she wants to teach medicine in Los Angeles).
Then there’s old Doc Bennett (Lloyd Nolan), the kind of small-town doctor you only find in the movies, who wrecks his car on a back road when he swerves to miss a bear; and Bill Clay (James W. Gavin), the helicopter pilot who has just been offered a lucrative new job, only to celebrate the news by fighting yet another forest fire.
To top it off, local teacher Harriett (Donna Mills) takes her class into the woods for a picnic, spots the fire, and decides to bolt. Unfortunately, one student, Judy (Michelle Stacy), has wandered off, giving the film its first bit of drama.
This early build-up, where we learn all we can about the various characters, is pretty standard stuff, and even gets a little schmaltzy on occasion (Dan Harder, the fire chief played by Gene Evans, pauses at one point to release a baby bunny he rescued). But these scenes are nonetheless serviceable, and work as our introduction to the citizens of Silverton.
Unfortunately, Fire! is too character-driven, and does not feature nearly enough action. The attempt to rescue Judy lacks any real tension, and the firefighting sequences are nothing more than shot after shot of guys shoveling dirt onto the blaze. There are a few tense moments, and a cool stunt or two (one volunteer falls from a tall tree, completely engulfed in flames), but it isn’t until the fire starts reaching populated areas that things get thrilling, and by the time that happens, there’s not a whole lot of movie left!
Fire! has its merits, yet is not nearly intense enough to rank among the decade's best disaster outings.
Directed By: Ronald Neame
Starring: Gene Hackman, Ernest Borgnine, Shelley Winters
Tag line: "Who will survive-in one of the greatest escape adventures ever!"
Trivia: Shelley Winters trained with an Olympic swim coach so that her character, who is a former award-winning swimmer, would come across more realistically in the underwater scenes
Of all the disaster films released in the 1970s, the one I am most familiar with is 1972’s The Poseidon Adventure. As a kid, I was fascinated by its story of an upside-down ocean liner, and never missed an opportunity to watch it on TV. For an impressionable youngster, The Poseidon Adventure was adventure at its finest!
It is New Year’s Eve, and everyone on board the S.S. Poseidon, a luxury liner on its final voyage, is having the time of their life. But the fun and frivolity comes to a sudden and tragic end when the Poseidon is hit by a tsunami, one so powerful that it flips the entire ship over!
Among the survivors is Rev. Scott (Gene Hackman), a forward-thinking man of the cloth who believes God rewards those who fend for themselves. Realizing the Poseidon, which is now floating helplessly in the middle of the ocean, is quickly filling up with water, Rev. Scott convinces a handful of people to make their way to the bottom (now the top) of the ship to await rescue.
Joining the good Reverend on this perilous journey are New York policeman Mike Rogo (Ernest Borgnine) and his new wife Linda (Stella Stevens); Mr. and Mrs. Rosen (Jack Albertson and Shelley Winters); lonely bachelor James Martin (Red Buttons); injured crewman Acres (Roddy McDowall); and teenager Susan (Pamela Sue Martin), who is traveling with her younger brother Robin (Eric Shea).
Together, these few will brave the unknown, making their way through a maze of twisted metal and facing danger at every turn
A few are a bit rough around the edges, but The Poseidon Adventure still manages to make us care about its collection of characters. As played by Hackman, Rev. Scott is a determined, sometimes gruff individual whose one and only goal is to lead this tiny group to safety. As the newlyweds, Borgnine and Stevens are easily the least likable of the bunch; their constant bickering - with each other as well as the remaining survivors - is grating at times. That said, the film’s most unforgettable performance is delivered by Shelley Winters, playing the grandmotherly Mrs. Rosen, who, when the chips are down, proves she’s got courage to spare.
Yet as much as I wanted to see these people survive, what I always remember about The Poseidon Adventure is its more thrilling moments, key among them the scene where the ship is hit by the wave and turns upside-down. It is a chaotic sequence featuring lots of well-staged destruction, and while the characters are, indeed, memorable, it’s the sheer adventure of it all that stays with me well after the credits roll.
